PORTAGE — The Williamsburg Blue Pirates baseball team fired on all cylinders against the Portage Mustangs to advance to the next round of the District 6 Class 1A playoffs with a huge 13-1 victory at Pete Haschak Memorial Field.

Williamsburg collected 20 hits from its offense, including four from winning pitcher Ethan Reffner, to take down the Mustangs. Six Blue Pirates strung together multi-hit performances, helping snap an offensive drought.

“We struggled the last five or six games and I just got on them,” Williamsburg coach Jerry Palmer said. “I told them, this is it. We’ve got to play or go home.

“Our hits were in the gaps. Also, we had very few strikeouts, put bat to ball, and that’s why we did well.”

This win gives Williamsburg an opportunity to get revenge on top-seeded Juniata Valley. The Green Hornets have won all three matchups, including two one-run victories, against Williamsburg. The fourth game between them will be the most significant, as the winner will advance to the semifinals against the winner of Saint Joseph’s and Homer-Center.

Williamsburg’s offense got cranking in the third inning, ignited by a three-run double by Jase McCall. Anthony Neri and Braydon Brumbaugh both followed with run-scoring singles, giving them a 5-0 lead.

Portage had an opportunity to answer back, loading the bases with no outs in the bottom half. Reffner struck out the next two and induced a groundout, preventing any runs across.

In the fourth, the Mustangs got the first two hitters on and Dom Beradinelli drove one in with a double, but that was it.

“We had a couple innings in a row where we had runners in scoring position and we didn’t get anything,” Portage coach Larry McCabe replied. “Those are times where you need to have a clutch hit and we didn’t get it.”

From there, the Blue Pirates took control of the game with another five-run frame in the fifth. That was headlined by a two-run double from Clayton McGregor and a run-scoring double from Reffner.

In the seventh, RBIs each from Reffner and Brumbaugh made the score 13-1, allowing Konnor Harker to close it out.

Out of a massive team performance, Reffner stood out the most, throwing 4• for the win, striking out four and allowing just five hits and three walks. At the plate, he added two RBIs with his four hits.

“We brought the energy today,” Reffner said. “We’ve struggled to hit this season and hit well (Thursday). As a team, we played aggressive and looked for hits instead of walks. We feel good going into another rematch with Juniata Valley.”

“This win is big for us,” Palmer added. “We’ve got Juniata Valley and this will be our fourth time playing them. We haven’t beaten them, so if we can play with them on their field as small-town rivals, then you never know what can happen.”

Williamsburg (13): Harker ss/p 510, Clark c/rf 433, Reffner 524 p/1b/ss, McCall 523 1b/p/1b, Neri 412 cf, Lower 412 2b, Brumbaugh 514 3b, Carper 411rf/c, Shock 100 rf, McGregor 411 lf. Totals — 37-13-20

Portage (1): Berardinelli 101 c, E. Slanoc 401 cf, Burkett 301 ss, Shuniak 400, Koban 000 rf, O. Slanoc 300 2b, Sciko 402 3b/p, Gathers 310 lf, Klein 401 1b, Phillips 100 p, Strittmatter 200 3b. Totals — 29-1-6 .

SCORE BY INNINGS

Williamsburg 005 050 3 — 13 20 2

Portage 000 100 0 — 1 6 3

E–Reffner, Brumbaugh; Sciko 2, Strittmatter. 2B–McCall, Reffner, McGregor, Clark; Berardinelli. 3B–None. HR–None. RBI–McCall 3, Reffner 2, Brumbaugh 2, McGregor 2, Clark, Neri, Lower; Berardinelli. WP–Reffner. LP–Phillips. SO–Reffner 4, McCall 1, Harker 1; Phillips 2, Sciko 1. BB–Reffner 3, McCall 3; Phillips 2, Sciko 1.

Records: Williamsburg (8-12), Portage (7-12).